"There's no outward signs of any foul play or any type of a struggle," said Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas Oates

One of two bodies found in a severe state of decomposition in the home of former Rhode Island mayor Susan Menard earlier this week has been confirmed to be her, state health officials confirmed. 

Menard was Woonsocket’s longest serving mayor in office from 1995 to 2009, according to the city’s website. 

Police were flagged to the bodies, described as a male and female on Monday afternoon after a neighbor reported he hadn’t seen the pair who lived in the residence on Marian Lane in Woonsocket in about a week and a strong odor was coming from the home, Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas Oates told the BBC News on Tuesday.

The Office of the State Medical Examiners at the Rhode Island Department of Health identified one of the two bodies as Menard, noting “the identity of the second decedent has not yet been finalized.”

The causes of death for both are still pending, the department’s spokesperson said on Wednesday. 

Oates said that officers who responded to the home on Monday and forced entry found “no outward signs of any foul play or any type of struggle.”

He said that the department was aware that both of the individuals they believed to be the deceased had "pretty significant" medical issues. 

Woonsocket, home to 43,000 people, is located about 20 miles northwest of Providence according to the news agency.

News of Menard’s death comes shortly after the death of her brother Robert Miller, who worked as a toxicologist for the Rhode Island Department of Health for 30 years. 

He passed away on Saturday at the age of 81, according to an obituary published in The Providence Journal, which lists her as a survivor of his death.